No. 11-ranked Mott earns ugly win over Alpena, 69-45

FLINT, Michigan — Mott Community College won its third consecutive game on Saturday afternoon, but the Bears didn’t look good doing it. Mott (15-4) managed only 23 points in the second half, while still easily putting away hapless Alpena, 69-45.

Mott led by 22 at the half after struggling through the game’s first 10 minutes. Alpena actually had a lead, 14-13, midway through the first half. Fortunately for Mott, sophomore Malik Albert was simply unstoppable. Albert led all scorers with 32 points on only 18 shots.

It’s strange to think any team could “win ugly” by 24 points, but that’s exactly what happened. As a team, Mott only tallied 10 assists to 15 turnovers. That’s bad, certainly, but it actually compares favorably to Alpena’s almost impossible 1-to-12 assist-to-turnover ratio (2 assists, 24 turnovers).

Mott made only five field goals in the second half, but the game was already well in hand. The team’s struggles are due, in large part, to its inability to finish on the break — something like I’ve never been able to say about a Mott team. It didn’t help that starting guard Devin Foster, one of Mott’s most talented players, had five more fouls than he did points.

Freshman Marcus Johnson was the only other bright spot for Mott on Saturday, scoring 17 points with two assists.

The Bears will have to get it together, and fast, as the meat of the schedule approaches. Mott will face Delta on the road at 7 p.m. Wednesday night before playing Henry Ford (home), St. Clair (away), Wayne (home) and Oakland (home) in four of the next five games. Those games are all winnable, and losable.